In honor of Star Wars Day (May the 4th), I put together a special Star Wars-themed Q. I’ve done several of these over the years, usually when a new movie is about to be released. Since I won’t be living in Lexington when EPISODE IX comes out, I saw this as my last/best chance to do one of my favorite workouts. I decided to combine my TABATA-TUNES workout (featuring classic Star Wars music) with some of my best pun-tastic exercise names. In the end, I think everyone enjoyed being transported to that galaxy far, far away and came out a little better (and better educated in some cases) when all was said and done.
Here are the details…
WEATHER
Just like the debut of Star Wars – it was in the 70s
COP
MOSEY a bit and circle up for COP.
(YHC took advantage of this moment to teach a few “new” exercises to the PAX to help them with the rest of the workout.
X-WING FIGHTERS X 12 IC
MERKINS: FORCE MERKINS (use the Force to push body weight from low plank to high plank position), DARTH MERKINS (similar to a T-PLANK in our galaxy), JEDI MERKINS (similar to a T-STOP in our galaxy), DOCKING BAY 94 (named for the docking bay that housed the Millennium Falcom while Han Solo and Chewbacca hung out at the Mrs Eisley Cantina – but you probably already knew that) X 5 IC each (hold high plank in between each set)
SQUATS: EWOK SQUATS (squat as low as an Ewok), WOOKIEE SQUATS (low squat into a calf raise – reach up to touch the top of Chewie’s head), AT-ATs (Imperial Walker with a Squat), JAWA HUMPERS (similar to a MONKEY HUMPERS in our galaxy – those Jawas are some freaky little dudes!) X 5 IC each
CORE: SKYWALKERS (similar to a FLUTTER KICK in our galaxy), IMPERIAL WALKERS, HAN SOLOS/QUI-GON JINNS (similar to a BBSU in our galaxy – if you do it right, you should feel it in your gut, much like these two guys did), HELLO PADMES (similar to a HELLO DOLLY in our galaxy) X 10 IC each
TABATA – 8 rounds: 20 seconds of exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest for 4:00 total
MOSEY to staff parking lot and circle up.
ROUND 1 – “Star Wars Main Title”
Exercises included: FORCE MERKINS, DARTH MERKINS, JEDI MERKINS, DOCKING BAY 94 (2 rounds of each)
MOSEY to BLOCK pile, grab a block and transport it to lower blacktop.
MOSEY to front upper blacktop and circle up.
ROUND 2 – “Cantina Theme/Yub Nub”
Exercises included: EWOK SQUATS, CHEWBACCA SQUATS, AT-ATs, JAWA HUMPERS (2 rounds of each)
MOSEY to lower blacktop.
ROUND 3 – “Duel of the Fates”
Exercises included: LANDO “CURL”RISSIANS (for the “ladies”), KYLO REN’S CHEST PRESS (named in honor of the disturbing sight of Kylo’s bare-chested scene in “The Last Jedi”) , DO-CEP EXTENSIONS (like a tri-cep extension – except as Master Yoda famously said, “Tri not. Do or do not. There is no tri.”), LANDO/KYLO/DO-CEP COMBOS (2 rounds each)
Return BLOCKS to pile, return to lower blacktop and circle up on your 6
ROUND 4 – “Imperial March”
Exercises included: IMPERIAL WALKERS (2 rounds), SKYWALKERS (2 rounds), HELLO PADMES (2 rounds), HAN SOLOS, QUI-GON JINNS
MOSEY to staff parking lot and line up along parking space lines (2 lines of 4 facing one another) Rotate clockwise to next space after each round
ROUND 5 – “Jedi Steps”
Exercises included: BURPEES, BURPEES, BURPEES, BURPEES, BURPEES, BURPEES, BURPEES, BURPEES
MOSEY to flag for LEIA (AKA “MARY”)
ROUND 6 – “End Title”
Exercises included (Acronym for devo purposes):
FORCE MERKINS (FEAR)
AT-ATS (ANGER)
HAN SOLOS (HATE)
SKYWALKERS (SUFFERING)
ENDOR TWISTS (ENDURANCE)
CHEWBACCA SQUATS (CHARACTER)
HELLO PADMES (HOPE)
Final Exercise: IMPERIAL WALKERS
RECOVER
FNG
Rodolfo (52) – After a “sermonette” that included a push-up challenge and words of wisdom on fear and the importance of mental health, he was named Master Yoda. WELCOME “Master Yoda”
ANNOUNCEMENTS
* Town Council meeting Monday evening regarding Runner Safety Awareness
PRAYER REQUESTS
* Swanson’s Dad’s – upcoming appointment at Mayo clinic and future treatment
* Master Yoda – wisdom
* Abby form Buttermaker’s church – recovery from surgery
DEVO
“From FEAR to HOPE”
“FEAR leads to ANGER, ANGER leads to HATE. HATE leads to SUFFERING.” – Yoda (The Phantom Menace)
“SUFFERING produces ENDURANCE, ENDURANCE produces CHARACTER. CHARACTER produces HOPE.” – Romans 5:3-4
At first glance, I admit that this is a somewhat cheesy mash-up of Star Wars and scripture, but I truly believe it can be a helpful and worthwhile exercise… from a certain point of view.
It’s always struck me that these two completely separate statements appear to mesh together so seamlessly. Certainly the first statement should never be elevated to the level of scripture. Still, there is a portion of wisdom that can be gathered when it comes to not allowing ourselves to be consumed by fear.
We live in a world that is constantly bombarded by those who would try to use fear as a weapon to control others. Much like Jedi are taught to let go of their anger and fear, scripture guides us to let go of our fear of this world and place our trust in God, who is the only One capable of saving us from our sin and the evils of this world. Still, some of us refuse to trust in anyone but ourselves and anything but our own wisdom and strength which certainly can lead suffering of all sorts.
The hope we find in this passage from Romans is that even our suffering, whatever its cause, will ultimately produce endurance followed by character and ultimately hope as we seek God and follow his Holy Spirit who has been so freely and generously given to us. We have a path from fear to hope, and His name is Jesus. Any other path leads to not to eternal hope but to a dark side of despair.
As always, it’s an honor to stand among and lead these men. As my time in F3 Lexington draws to an end, I cherish every opportunity I get to be a part of this incredible group. See you all in the gloom soon.